Boom!
Onix's body crashed heavily to the ground. As Takeo shook his head helplessly and announced the result, the battle finally ended.
"Onix is unable to battle. Flint's Pokémon have all been defeated. The winner of this Gym Challenge is Giovanni."
"Not bad." Giovanni recalled the jubilant Dugtrio, then said to Flint, "Thank you for the match."
Flint shook his head. "It's fine. I gained a lot from this as well."
Takeo walked over and said to Giovanni:
"Congratulations. This is the Boulder Badge. The move our Gym provides is Rock Tomb. Would you like to stay and learn it?"
Giovanni rubbed his chin. "Yes, that would be great."
Takeo scratched his head, his old face reddening. "It's a small matter, a small matter. It's just that, well, we don't provide room and board, so you'll have to pay separately."
Giovanni was truly speechless that a Gym Leader of such high status would be short on Poké dollars.
"No problem," Giovanni still replied.
"That's good. Flint, Giovanni will be your responsibility, since you brought him back." Takeo turned to his son-in-law and said a few words. There were some things he was too embarrassed to say, but Flint could.
Flint nodded. "Leave it to me. I can also teach Rock Tomb."
Takeo nodded. "Mm."
Then he turned to his apprentices. "What are you looking at? Get back to training! You're still a hundred years too early if you want to graduate!"
The apprentices were so scolded by Takeo that their heads almost dropped to their crotches.
"My father-in-law has this kind of temper," Flint said to Giovanni with a smile.
Giovanni approved of Takeo's approach. "It's fine. Teaching students requires some strictness, but when it's time to encourage them, they still need encouragement."
"That's right," Flint responded, then extended his hand to Giovanni. "This way, please."
Giovanni then followed him towards the backyard of the Rock Gym.
The backyard of the Rock Gym was not small, and the rooms were decent, without the dilapidated feeling Giovanni had imagined.
As for room and board, Flint wouldn't deceive Giovanni; it was charged at three hundred Poké dollars per day.
How to put it? It was acceptable.
Flint asked Giovanni, "Brother Giovanni, when do you plan to learn the Rock Tomb move? I'll prepare for it then."
"Anytime, the sooner the better, of course." Giovanni wasn't polite. Although the Rock Tomb move wasn't a very powerful move, when it came to moves, the more the merrier.
What's more, whether it was Rhydon, Nidoking, Dugtrio, or even Machoke, they could all learn this move.
As for the time issue, Giovanni still needed to rush to Cerulean City later, so he naturally wanted to be quicker.
Flint didn't expect Giovanni to be so eager. He could only comply. "Alright, please follow me this way."
Giovanni nodded and followed him towards the private training ground in the backyard.
Hmm... it was actually just an empty space.
As for who was responsible for teaching the Rock Tomb move, it was Flint's Sandslash.
Flint smiled at Giovanni, his already squinted eyes completely disappearing.
"Alright, you can release all the Pokémon under your command that can learn this move."
Giovanni placed his hand on his waist, then released all four of his Pokémon.
Rhydon and Dugtrio went without saying; Flint had just been defeated by them. Machoke was also fine; it was a common Pokémon.
However, Nidoking made Flint's eyes light up—er, he could barely see a little bit.
He circled Nidoking, somewhat incoherent. "Is this Nidoking?! What a powerful physique, this build, this strength!"
Although Nidoking was a bit disgusted by Flint's appearance, under his praise, it couldn't help but lift its head.
Its expression was slightly punchable.
"This Nidoking looks so much like the one in the Great Master's video, and its height and condition are also similar." Flint seemed to suddenly become suspicious.
He turned his tiny, squinted eyes towards Giovanni, releasing a sharp gaze. "Speaking of which, your age and height are also very similar."
Giovanni looked at the suddenly suspicious Flint, his mind racing, trying to figure out how to change the subject.
But then he heard the previously suspicious Flint suddenly say, "I know! You must also be a huge fan of the Great Master, and you were just pretending not to care before. Actually, it was to disguise your identity!"
After saying this, he became even more convinced of his idea.
"It must be like this! The Trainers who raised Nidorino before were all loyal admirers of the Great Master!"
Hearing Flint say this, Giovanni, who had originally been thinking about how to change the subject, could only accept this identity. "Uh... since you've found out, I won't hide it anymore. Actually, I'm uh... I'm a loyal fan of the Cat Petting Great Master."
"I knew it! I was right!" Flint had an 'I told you so' expression.
He said to Giovanni, "Actually, you don't need to hide it. The Great Master has so many fans; you should be proud."
Giovanni touched his face. "I'll remember that. I won't have that thought anymore."
"That's right. Now, in the entire Kanto region, no one doesn't give a thumbs up to the Great Master." Flint went on and on with his praises.
Finally, he thought of something and said, "Perhaps that pretentious guy today wouldn't. That guy is clearly an oddball."
Giovanni looked at Flint, whose eyes were just slits, and found it somewhat amusing to hear him call Lance, who was clearly a handsome man, an oddball.
Before Giovanni could tell Flint not to worry about other things,
Another surprised shout came from beside them.
"Is this Nidoking?!"
Giovanni looked in the direction of the voice. The person who arrived was a girl who looked heroic and spirited. Her skin was a healthy tan, and her hair was reddish-brown.
What was interesting was that she was accompanied by a Blastoise, even though this was a Rock-type Gym.
The girl was also very direct, circling Nidoking, observing it intently.
It made Flint a bit awkward. He apologized to Giovanni:
"I'm really sorry, Brother Giovanni. This is my wife, Lola. She usually likes to be in the backyard. Oh, and she's also a fan of the Great Master."
Only then did Giovanni understand the reason why the backyard was so well-kept.
However, he also had some doubts. "Oh, the daughter of the Rock-type Gym Leader? Why is her Pokémon a Water-type?"
Hearing Giovanni ask this, Flint awkwardly scratched his head.
"This... this..."
Lola's personality seemed quite strong, but the look in her eyes towards Flint was still very gentle.
"Why are you stammering? What's there to hide? I just don't like Rock-type Pokémon. Water-type Pokémon are clearly stronger. Later, when I challenge that old man and become the Gym Leader here, I'll change everything to Water-type."
These rebellious words clearly startled Flint.
"Don't talk nonsense! What if Father-in-law hears you?"